Attachment mounting means for hearing protector earcups

ABSTRACT

HEARING PROTECTOR EARCUP SUPPORTING MEANS INCLUDING A HEADBAND HAVING ATTACHMENT MEANS AT EACH OF ITS OPPOSITE ENDS FOR RECEIVING AND SUPPORTING AN EARCUP. THE ATTACHMENT MEANS IN EACH CASE COMPRISES A FORK HAVING TWO PLANAR PRONGS BETWEEN WHICH A RCESSED END OF AN EARCUP MOUNTING STUD IS FITTED WITH AN INTERMEDIATE THIRD PRONG OF THE FORK EXTENDING OVER AND LATCHED TO THE END OF THE STUD. THE STUD IS EITHER FORMED AS AN INTEGRAL EXTENSION OF THE WALL OF ITS RESPECTIVE EARCUP OR EXTENDED THROUGH THE EARCUP WAL IN COAXIALLY ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CUP SO AS TO PERMIT ROTATION OF THE CUP ABOUT ITS AXIS RELATIVE TO THE HEADBAND.

Feb. 16, 1971 L. c. Hu'rcHmsbN 3,562,816

ATTACHMENT MOUNTING MEANS FOR HEARING PROTECTOR EARCUPS Filed June 23,1969 INVENTOR. V I g 4 LAWRENCE CHUTCHINSON AT ORNEY United StatesPatent 3,562,816 ATTACHMENT MOUNTING MEANS FOR HEARING PROTECTOR EARCUPSLawrence C. Hutchinson, Southbridge, Mass., assignor to American OpticalCorporation, Southbridge, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed June23, 1969, Ser. No. 835,440 Int. Cl. A41d 21/00 U.S. Cl. 2-209 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Hearing protector earcup supporting meansincluding a headband having attachment means at each of its oppositeends for receiving and supporting an earcup. The attachment means ineach case comprises a fork having two planar prongs betwen which arecessed end of an earcup mounting stud is fitted with an intermediatethird prong of the fork extending over and latched to the end of thestud. The stud is either formed as an integral extension of the wall ofits respective earcup or extended through the earcup wall in coaxiallyaligned relationship with the cup so as to permit rotation of the cupabout its axis relative to the headband.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Hearing protectorswith particular reference to headband supported earcups.

Description of the prior art Headband supported hearing protectorearcups are currently being provided with elongated elliptically orgenerally triangularly shaped openings through which the ear auricle isinserted into the cup for providing a seal closely around the ear canalagainst the wearers head. Accordingly, in properly fitting such earcupsto the head, a rotational adjustment of each relative to its supportingheadband is required to accommodate for variations in head shapes, sizesand relative positions of ears upon the head.

While prior art earcup attachment mounting devices have, in some cases,permitted rotational adjustment of earcups relative to their supportingheadbands, these devices in general have been found to be of relativecomplex, ungainly and costly construction, contributory to excessiveweight upon the head of a wearer and commonly restrictive to theselection of positions relative the head around which the headband maybe extended.

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks to priorart headband supported heairng protector earcup devices by providingnovel, lightweight, simple and inexpensive earcup attachment mountingmeans offering a full 360 rotational adjustment of the earcups relativeto their supporting headband whereby wearing of the headband behind thehead, over the head or beneath the chin is given to the discretion ofthe wearer along with complete freedom to reposition his headband at anytime without removal of the earcups from his ears.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION "ice of the stud. A circumferential groove orpair of diametrically opposed parallel slots adjacent the terminus ofthe stud receives the pair of prongs while the third prong, under springtension, snaps over the terminal end of the stud when the assembly ofstud and headband is made.

The mounting stud, either as an integrally molded extension of theearcup or a separable element inserted through an opening in the earcupwall, is aligned coaxially with the cup. In the former case wherein thestud comprises a molded extension of the earcup, it is provided with acircumferential groove adjacent its terminus into which the pair ofplanar prongs are inserted whereby a full 360 axial rotation of the cupand stud in the bifurcation between said pair of prongs relative to theheadband proper, or vice versa, is permitted. In the latter case whereinthe stud etxends through an opening in the wall of the earcup, rotationof the earcup about the stud itself is permitted whereby an attachmentof the headband to the stud may be effected by providing a pair ofdiametrically opposed parallel slots adjacent the terminal end of thestud into which the pair of planar prongs of the headband are inserted.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the embodiment of hearingprotector earcup-headband attachment mounting means illustrated in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 33 of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the attachment mounting means takenalong line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary partially cross-sectioned view of a modificationof the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hearing protector headpiece 10(FIG. 1) comprises headband 12 having an ear protector cup 14 pivotallyconnected to each of its opposite ends.

Each earcup 14 is provided with an axially disposed opening 16 extendingthrough its rearward side 18 (FIG. 3) through which a mounting stud 20is extended. Stud 20, preferably being formed of nylon or a similarmaterial, has an enlarged somewhat flexible head 22 which peripherallyengages the inner surface of side 18 around opening 16. The oppositeterminal end 24 of stud 20 is provided with a pair of paralleldiametrically opposed slots 26 (FIGS. 3 and 4) into which one end ofheadband 12 is inserted.

Headband 12, being formed of a relatively thin strip of spring steel orthe like, has a three-pronged fork formed at each of its opposite ends.Two prongs 28 of the fork are planar with a bifurcation 30 therebetween(see FIG. 4) resulting from a third prong 32, formed of the materialinitially in the space between prongs 28, being bent outwardly away fromprongs 28 in the manner best illustrated in FIG. 3.

In the assembly of headband 12 and earcup 14, prongs 28 of the forkedend of headband 12 are inserted into slots 26 of stud 20 thereby forcingprong 32 to snap over end 24 of stud 20, locking the headband to earcup14 when stud 20 is fully entered into bifurcation 30. Friction washer 34placed between prongs 28 and side 18 of cup 14, in conjunction with head22 of stud 20, forms an acoustical seal around opening 16 andfrictionally holds earcup 14 in desired rotational positions ofalignment relative to headband 12, or vice versa. In

this embodiment of the invention it can be seen that carcup 14 isrotatable about stud 20 between head 22 thereof and friction washer 34.

In a modification of the invention stud 20 may be molded as an integralextension 36 (FIG. 5) of cup 14. In such a case, a circumferentialgroove 38 is provided in extension 36 adjacent its terminal end 30 intowhich prongs 28 of a forked end of headband 12 are inserted. Thus, withthe terminal end 40 of extension 36 fully entered into bifurcation 30and latched by prong 32 of headband 12, rotation of earcup 14 relativeto headband 12 will take place about groove 38 in the bifurcation 30between prongs 28. Friction washer 42 on extension 36 holds cup 14 underslight tension against prongs 28 whereby cup 14 is frictionally held indesired positions of rotational adjustment relative to headband 12 andvice versa.

It is to be understood that with either of the above describedembodiments of the invention, headband 12 may be worn behind the head,over the head or under the chin at the wearers discretion. At any one ofthese positions and others intermediately thereof, earcups 14 may berotatably adjusted independently of each other relative to headband 12so as to orient the elongated opening 44 in each cup 14 as required forproper fitting about the ear.

It is also pointed out that the outwardly directed convex surfaces offriction washers 34 and 42 permit a tilting of cup 14 relative toheadband 12 along all radial dimensions of the cup within limits imposedby the difference between the thickness of prongs 28 and the widths ofslots 26 or groove 38 respectively. Accordingly, slots 26 and groove 38are preferably formed to a width dimension substantially greater thanthe thickness of prongs 28. Thus, along with the rotation of cups 14relative to headband 12, their ability to tilt relative to the headbandfacilitates comfortable fitting and the achievement of optimumacoustical sealing of the cups around the ears.

I claim:

1. In a hearing protector headset including a headband and at least oneear protector cup having a head-engaging inner side with anear-receiving opening therein and a headband attaching outer side; theimprovement in attachment mounting means for supporting said cup uponone end of said headband comprising:

a mounting stud upon said outer side of said cup extending coaxiallyoutwardly therefrom and including recessing formed adjacent its terminalend for receiving attachment means on said end of said headband;

4 said attachment means including the formation of a fork adjacent saidend of said headband, said fork having two planar prongs inserted intosaid recessing in said stud and a third prong extended over and latchedto said terminal end of said stud; and said attachment means furtherincluding a friction washer on said stud disposed between said outerside of said cup and said pair of planar prongs for frictionallyretaining said cup and said headband in desired positions of relativerotational adjustment.

2. A hearing protector headset according to claim 1 wherein saidmounting stud extends through said outer side of said cup whereby saidcup is rotatable about said stud and said recessing adjacent saidterminal end of said stud comprises a pair of diametrically opposedparallel slots into which said planar prongs of said fork are inserted.

3. A hearing protector headset according to claim 1 wherein said studcomprises an integral extension of said outer side of said ear protectorcup and said recessing adjacent said terminal end thereof comprises acircumferential groove into which said planar prongs of said fork areinserted whereby rotation of said cup and stud as a unit takes placebetween said pair of planar prongs.

4. A hearing protector headset according to claim 2 wherein saidfriction washer has a spherically convex side disposed against saidplanar prongs and said slots in said stud are of a width dimensionsubstantially greater than the thickness dimension of said planarprongs.

5. A hearing protector headset according to claim 3 wherein saidfriction washer has a spherically convex side disposed against saidplanar prongs and said circumferential groove is of a width dimensionsubstantially greater than the thickness dimension of said planarprongs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,398,958 12/1921 Basch 2-2091,560,718 11/1925 Nowosielski 179156 1,602,517 10/1926 Bosh 1791562,075,196 3/1937 Hand 179-156 2,149,341 3/1939 Harrison 179156 3,454,9647/1969 Brinkhoff 2-209 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner G. H.KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner

